


Learning How to Survive

by stuckonalevel (AceHensworth)



Series: Learning How to Survive (Series) [1]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Apocalypse, Background Het, Background Relationships, Background Slash, Canon Compliant, Dark, Gen, Gun Violence, I'll list triggers at the beginning of each relevant chapter, Multi, Original Character(s), POV Multiple, Post-Canon, Pre-Apocalypse, Realistic, Serious, This is going to be a long fic, Unrequited Crush, Violence, expensive headphones, mentions of a school shooting, romantic relationships are not a focus, the gang have to stop the apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-06-29 04:33:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15722049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceHensworth/pseuds/stuckonalevel
Summary: It's been six weeks since the play. Things have become a bit more normal, and the gang are all friends. But it's far from perfection; the Squips are still out there, the gang have a lot to learn about each other, and there are unaddressed feelings. Brooke, Chloe, and Jake still believe that they were spiked with ecstasy at the play and have no knowledge of the Squips. Jenna has been using her skills to keep tabs on the 'Squip Situation', and thing's are about to escalate. Together the gang must (relunctantly) find a way to defeat the Squips and stop a possible apocalypse.Notes: There will be three Original Characters in this fic. Romantic relationships are not the focus, but Rich/Michael is probably gonna happen. Michael has a crush on Jeremy and Rich has a crush on Jake at the beginning. Jeremy and Christine are still a thing. There will be some violence and gore as the story goes on. It's really about the complex interpersonal platonic relationships of the characters.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The first chapter is much shorter than all subsequent chapters. Please let me know what you think. I have already written three future chapters. My tumblr is @stuckonalevel. Thanks to tumblr users @awkwardpersontm and @bmcnyc for beta reading this work. Lemme know if anyone wants to beta future chapters too. I have no idea how regularly I'll actually update this. Thanks for reading.

**December 15th PS (Post-Squip)**

**Jeremy’s POV**

 

Jeremy fiddled with the corner of the page he was currently reading, causing it to become slightly damaged. He knew he should probably be listening to whatever Mr Wells was talking about, but he had never been able to find biology particularly interesting. He kept thinking about plays. Christine had messaged the group chat that morning asking for suggestions, she was working with Mr Reyes to sort out a new school play that they would start rehearsing after Winter break. He wanted to help choose the play, mainly so he could prove to his girlfriend that he did pay attention when she talked about her favorite plays, and also because he would rather have a say in what he would end up performing in this time.

However his brain seemed to be failing him. He knew quite a few Shakespeare plays, both from English class and from just being alive. But he didn’t really like the thought of performing Shakespeare, and he didn’t think the others would either. They would probably be best performing a more modern play. But Jeremy genuinely didn’t know any. He wondered if anyone else would, apart from maybe Christine. 

Jeremy looked over to the desk at his side where Michael was sitting. Well, currently napping it would seem. He repressed a sigh. He and Michael had been best friends for years, but things were different now. He really didn’t want them to be. But they were. The rift that the Squip had created between them still needed more healing. They had started playing video games together and hanging out regularly again, but there was an awkward air around them. Jeremy didn’t need to wonder why, he had enough empathy to know that Michael still found his rejection hard to swallow. No one wants to be abandoned by their best friend suddenly. It’s hard to understand why someone would do that at the best of times, even without the robot stuff.

He had apologised profusely, and Michael had forgiven him. He knew Michael forgave him. But it had only been six weeks, that’s not a lot of time. The dust still hadn’t settled. A lot of things had changed very quickly. It was no longer just Jeremy and Michael against the world. They both had new friends, and they were both fairly well liked at school now. Jeremy was very grateful to have new friends, it made things less awkward with Michael, it made it easier to deal with.

Once the bell rang Jeremy took out his phone to check the chat. There weren’t any real suggestions for the play, but there were plans being made to hang out at Brooke’s tonight. It was still weird to think that he was friends with these people now. When they were all hanging out together it was fun, they all enjoyed themselves and felt like a normal group of friends. But it’s hard to make new connections. There is still a lot of stuff they don’t know about each other as people.

“So movies at Brooke’s, huh?” Michael had joined him in walking down the hall, with his usual aura of fun and chill. “You going?”

“Yeah, I think it’ll be fun,” Jeremy smiled back, this felt normal. “Are you going to give me a ride there?” He still didn’t have a license or car of his own just yet. As they turned the corner they waved to Christine and Jenna who were waiting by Christine’s locker.

“Sure thing, bud. I’ll meet you outside later.” Michael responded playfully, before shooting a quick goodbye to everybody and continuing down the hall to his next class.

“Hey, Jere,” greeted Christine smiling sweetly. Jeremy leaned down for a quick kiss. “Have you had any thoughts?” she asked.

“What about Iron Giant?” he responded. There was a slight pause and Christine looked mildly confused, which confused Jeremy as well.

“She meant for the play,” chuckled Jen.

“Oh!” he joined in “I thought you meant movies for tonight!” They all had a good laugh together. It was times like these that Jeremy loved, laughing with good friends, and not feeling left out. This was the good part of life post-Squip.

“Silly, well I should go or I’ll be late, I’ll see you later.” Christine said giving them both a quick hug. “Is it okay if I get a lift with you and Michael?” Jeremy opened his mouth to respond. “Don’t worry, I’ll text him to ask,” she said quickly. Jeremy smiled at her, she was so cute. She kissed his cheek and skipped away.

“You’re gonna give me cavities, you two,” Jenna smirked. “Come on, let’s go to history!” She looped her arm through his and guided them down the hall.

Jenna was somebody that Jeremy now trusted completely. Admittedly he still sometimes had concerns when telling her secrets. But she had been much more careful with personal information recently. She was still the school gossip, but would only trade in information that was superficial, nothing too deep. Jeremy liked hanging with Jenna because she was always overtly happy to talk to him, and she’d usually have genuinely good stories to tell, or advice to give. She was wise beyond her years.

“So, I know you don’t want to know,” she began. “But I thought I should tell you anyway...there seems to have been two other cases in Hudson County this week.”

Jeremy sighed deeply, trying to keep his breathing regular. Once he had fully explained everything to her after the play, Jenna had taken to using her skills to keep tabs on the Squip situation. Jeremy wanted to not think about it as much as he could, but a combination of revenge lust and morbid curiosity kept Jenna on the hunt.

“Okay?” he responded. “I’m not sure what to do with that information?”

“Eventually, someone’s going to have to do _something_ ,” she stressed.

“If we’re aware I’m sure the government is,” he paused. “Can we talk about this later?”

Jenna conceded defeat on the issue, for now. She gave his arm a squeeze.

“Sorry, I’m just worried,” she said softly.

“We all are,” he replied equally softly as they walked into class.

It was true. Beneath the new found comfort and fun, there was a constant hum of concern. They had deactivated their Squips and saved the school. But there were plenty of other schools in New Jersey. And what if they had started aiming higher than just high school students? It was an incredibly terrifying feeling. Who could you really trust? Jeremy hoped he was right, he hoped the government were aware and had a plan. Because he didn’t have one.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to see what the popular kids are up to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think there are any trigger warnings needed for this chapter. Please do let me know if I am wrong about that.

**December 15th PS (Post-Squip)**

**Brooke’s POV**

 

Brooke was waiting for the bell to ring outside Miss Collins class. It had become routine for her to be allowed out of specific classes a few minutes early so that she could help Jake get around. She was currently waiting so that they could drive home. Both herself and Jake knew that he didn’t really need the extra help most of the time, Jake had gotten quite adept with his wheelchair over the last few weeks. This hadn’t really surprised anybody, as he had always been able to pick up new skills quickly. 

Brooke assumed that having her with him maybe helped him feel less different, or pitied. There were times when she worried that everyone was patronizing him too much, but he had assured her that she was in fact helpful. Jake was good at handling hard situations, he always thought positively, and Brooke was glad this was still the case.

Jake’s legs may never heal correctly. It was hard news to hear, but not surprising. Brooke and the others had expected some kind of emotional break down or anger - after all Jake had lost his legs and his house - but instead he had shrugged and spent his time refining his non-athletic skills. One of these skills included singing, something that Brooke herself had also started doing. She really enjoyed it. They had begun bonding over it. The fact that Jake now lived with her and her mom also helped with the bonding thing. Brooke found that she spent a lot of her time worrying about Jake now.

The bell finally rang, and a few moments later Jake rolled out of the room with a grin.

“Hello, sunshine,” he greeted. “How was your afternoon?” ‘Sunshine’ had become a pet name for Brooke, partly due to her blonde hair, but mostly because she had told Jake that her mom used to sing the song ‘You are my Sunshine’ to her as a child, and he thought that was cute.

“It was okay I guess, uneventful really,” she began wheeling him down the hall. “So Chloe’s gonna drive us home, but first we’ll need to pick up snacks for tonight.” Jake hummed hummed in acknowledgment.

“And booze? Do we already have some?” He asked, an air of humor in his voice. Brooke chuckled, lightly shaking her head.

“There’s a few beers in the fridge, but this is a movie night not a party!” She responded playfully. “I don’t think any of us should be partying again for a while, y’know, after last time.” 

The atmosphere of the conversation had dropped a bit at that last comment. Brooke immediately felt awful about reminding him. But Brooke really didn’t want people drinking or getting high tonight. Plus, there was no way that Jake should be consuming alcohol while he was still regularly taking strong pain medication. Brooke still had no idea what really happened that night at the Halloween party. She knows Rich went crazy or something, but no one seemed to really know why. He was better now. He was really different now, actually. But she would be lying if she said she didn’t feel nervous around him sometimes.

Brooke no longer had any interest in alcohol or drugs or partying. The Halloween party had been a disaster that had nearly become deadly, and then there was the awful experience during the play. Brooke had never actually taken any drugs in her life before that night, maybe a little bit of weed, but that was it. If that’s what ecstasy felt like, she had no idea why people would take it regularly. It was terrifying and confusing. She had kept hearing voices that would insult her. She never wanted to go through that again. It had definitely helped her bond with everyone though. Shared traumatic experiences can do that, after all.

“Hey, you okay?” A soft voice asked. Brooke suddenly realised that she had stopped walking in the middle of the hallway. Jake was looking over his shoulder at her. She gave him a big smile and started forward again.

“Just thinking about which snacks we should get,” she giggled. 

The rest of their conversation out of the school and into the parking lot consisted of snack debates. Eventually they got to Chloe’s favorite parking spot where - as usual - Chloe’s car sat. Chloe herself was leaning against it, looking at something on her phone.

“Hey, hot stuff,” she greeted with a wink once she noticed them coming over.

“Which one of us are you talking to?” Responded Jake playfully, adding his own wink. His comment earned him a slight smack on the shoulder from Chloe, who had begun to blush slightly. 

Brooke had noticed that things between Chloe and Jake had finally seemed to calm down. Chloe appeared to be legitimately over him, and they had built a solid friendship. Chloe had calmed down a lot in general. Which in some respects was a good thing, Brooke had always felt a lot of pressure to keep up with Chloe, that pressure had lessened greatly. But she’d also regularly catch Chloe deep in thought, and that worried her.

“You gonna help me get in then?” Jake asked expectantly.

“Of course your majesty!” Chloe lightly teased.

Together Chloe and Brooke helped lift Jake from his chair to one of the back seats of the car and buckle him in. Jake was surprisingly easy to carry for somebody so tall and athletic. This was one of those things that Brooke could tell did make Jake uncomfortable. None of the squad owned a vehicle designed with disabled people in mind, and no matter how progressive you are, publicly being carried by two skinny girls in front of your peers is embarrassing. He’d never let it show though.

Once Brooke had folded up Jake’s chair and put it in the trunk of the car she got into the back seat next to him as Chloe got into the driver’s seat. Brooke always sat in the back with him, it would feel awkward to have him sat back there alone. 

As they drove out of the parking lot the group began chatting about their day. Chloe complained about a guy who kept flirting with her in Math, Jake talked about something interesting he’d read online, and things felt like they had before all of the chaos. As Chloe pulled in to the Seven Eleven parking lot the atmosphere changed. Chloe hesitated.

“Is it a good idea to invite Rich?” she asked quietly. Brooke knew that Chloe didn’t hate Rich, but it was hard not to be confused about him now. The running theory the three of them had was that maybe he had a serious drug problem, and they hadn’t noticed. But that didn’t feel right. Jake really didn’t like talking about Rich. The air around them became tense.

“He’s been fine since he left the hospital,” Brooke responded slowly, trying to choose the right words. “And he and Jeremy said that Rich’s therapist gave him the all-clear, y’know…mental health wise.” This was awkward.

“I mean,” Chloe hesitated agai. “Has he been fine? He’s really different now.”

“But he’s happier, right? That’s a good sign, isn’t it?” Brooke asked hopefully.

Before everything went crazy in October, Rich had been somebody that all three of them spent a lot of time with. But the guy who came back from the hospital wasn’t the same. He was quieter, and he had a lisp all of a sudden. Brooke just wished she could understand what really happened to him. Brooke looked at Jake who was staring out of the window.

“He’s fine,” he finally said. “He’s our friend.” Jake sounded certain but emotionless, completely monotone.

Brooke knew that Jake had yet to actually have a proper conversation with Rich. This was mainly because Rich was obviously trying to avoid being alone with Jake, probably out of guilt. Jake had confessed to her that he was incredibly hurt and confused, and just wanted his friend back. These things take time, Brooke guessed.

“Okay then,” replied Chloe, sounding unconvinced. “Rich is a-okay.”

“Can we just get these snacks and go home, please?” Jake sounded tired.

“Fine.” Chloe stated, as she left the car.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Brooke's movie night. And the inciting incident of this story. And some light Rich/Michael. Triggers: there will be mentions of gun violence, suicide, and school shootings in this specific chapter. If you would like to beta read for future chapters contact me on tumblr @stuckonalevel. 
> 
> So this is my longest chapter so far (I've written five atm) and it's also my favourite.

**December 15th PS (Post Squip)**

**Rich’s POV**

 

Rich lamented the fact that he never seemed able to find any songs on his phone that he liked when he had an opportunity to play them for other people. He had been pressing ‘skip’ every few moments for nearly 5 minutes now. Every song name that appeared on the screen caused a negative reaction in him.  _ Too slow. Too old. Too cheesy. _

Jenna didn’t say anything or rush him, but he still felt a little embarrassed. He knew that they should have just used her phone’s music instead. After a while he gave up and sighed.

“Let’s just turn on the radio,” he stated, fighting the urge to cringe at his lisp.

Jenna glanced over at him and shrugged.

“Sure,” she smiled.

Rich returned the smile as he turned the car radio on. He didn’t recognise the song, but Jenna was bobbing along so he left it there. They were on their way to Brooke’s house for the movie night. Rich felt nervous. He still needed to get used to feeling that way again, without being reprimanded for it. He had considered giving the get together a miss and staying at home, but Jenna had evidently anticipated that. When he left his final class of the day she had been waiting for him, and insisting on going to her place to hang out before giving him a ride to Brooke’s. 

Jenna had been spending a lot of time with him since he returned to school. At first he had been confused, maybe she had a crush on him? But that didn’t seem to be the case. He had decided that it must be because she felt guilty for spreading gossip about him whilst he was in the hospital. Still, he was grateful for her company. He knew that things would be difficult when he returned to school un-squipped, but he had been unprepared for all of the looks and the general isolation. Everyone was either afraid of him or felt sorry for him.

He had yet to talk to Jake alone. The thought filled him with terror and guilt. Rich was no stranger to guilt, he had felt guilt whenever he had sexual thoughts about other boys, or when his dad would tell him that having a child ruined his life. His squip had regularly made him feel guilty for the slightest offence. But this guilt was worse, because this time he knew for certain that what he had done was wrong, and it was his own fault. He had chosen to take the squip, he had chosen to listen to it, and he had chosen to start the fire out of desperation. Jake deserved better than him. Everyone did.

No. That last thought wasn’t him. He knew that wasn’t true.

It was hard to break away from the state of mind his squip had constantly caused. He had been trying to train it out of himself. He would usually do this by allowing himself a treat of some kind every time he corrected this type of negative thinking. He would make sure to do so at some point tonight. Jenna and Jeremy had been trying to get him to vocalise his thoughts and corrections, or to at least text one of them when he had them, so that they could talk them out together. That’s what Jeremy had been doing since the incident, and it worked for him. Rich usually felt too uncomfortable to talk to them every time, because it happened a lot every day. Rich’s biggest goal was to focus on the humour in life, like he always used to. He tried to present himself as carefree as ever, but even he knew he wasn’t very convincing anymore.

“So, what exactly happened this time?” he asked, attempting to start up the conversation again. Jenna had been keeping him updated on any information she would receive on the ‘Squip Situation’. It was never easy to hear - or be reminded of - but Rich would rather know what was going on. Jeremy thought it was unhealthy.

“Well, the first one is just some info I’ve gotten from someone on their football team,” she responded, going into ‘detective mode’, “apparently the coach convinced several members of the team to get squipped, and he’s pressuring the rest of the team too.”

“Is the coach squipped?”

“It’s unclear, but I would think so,” she nodded.

“And the other case?” 

“A freshman was attacked by his own family dog,” she hesitated, “he’s in the hospital, his best friend knew something was wrong, but he assumed it was drugs. He found the kid’s notebook with some disturbing stuff in it. I got him to send me some pics of the notes. It sounds like squip activity to me. My current theory is that the squip tried to take over his body and the dog could somehow tell.”

“How would a dog know that?” he didn’t mean to sound so skeptical, but that didn’t seem possible.

“It’s just a theory,” she shrugged, “we’re here.” She stopped the car.

Neither of them went to leave. Rich took a deep breath. Jenna waited patiently for him to be ready. 

“Okay,” he said.

And with that they both got out of the car. Jenna hooked her arm through his, her signature move. They had to knock a few times but eventually the door opened, the sounds of laughter and loud music sneaking out. Brooke gave them a bright smile.

“Heya guys, sorry,” she opened the door wide and ushered them inside, “Jenna and Rich are here!” She yelled behind her as Jenna hung up her jacket. Rich decided to keep his on. They were met by a chorus of ‘hey’s as they entered the living room. Immediately he put on a huge grin and tried to focus on being ‘fun guy Rich’.

“S’up, people!” he greeted as he crashed onto one of the two sofas, sitting next to Jeremy who was currently in Christine’s lap, with Michael on the other side of them. Jenna sat on the floor by Rich and rested her head against his leg.

“Hey man, we’re still arguing over which movies to pretend to watch whilst we all actually talk over them and these two make out,” responded Michael, with his usual charm. 

Everyone giggled, whilst Christine and Jeremy blushed. 

“We’re not arguing, we’re discussing,” Jake rebuked with a chuckle.

Rich didn’t contribute too much to the conversation after that. He was just happy to see everyone in such good spirits. His eyes kept wandering over to Jake, who was sat in his wheelchair, he was relieved to see that he was happy and relaxed. He felt a pang of envy, wishing he could feel that way too.

Eventually they settled on two movies; Stuart Little and Ratatouille. The decision stemmed from a silly discussion about whether Stuart or Remy would win in a fight. Brooke and Chloe began setting up the movies.

“What about those beers, Sunshine?” Jake suddenly asked.

“Oh yeah, there are a few beers in the fridge. There’s like two packs of six bottles, so there’s only enough for one each, and then maybe some people can have a second,” she sounded apprehensive about it.

“I’ll go get them,” Rich offered, he wanted to seem helpful.

He left to go to the kitchen. Brooke’s house was much nicer than his own, it had large rooms, and a wide floor plan. He liked it. The kitchen was fairly modern in design but had many nic nacs and ornaments on the countertops and walls. You could tell that a happy family lived here. He opened the fridge and began taking the beers out when he heard someone come in behind him.

“Need any help?” It was Michael. 

Rich placed some of the bottles on the table and closed the fridge door with his elbow. He felt a little insecure all of a sudden. Michael was another person he hadn’t spent any time alone with in a while. When Jeremy was still unconscious in the hospital Michael had come to visit everyday. He would sit next to Jeremy and talk, even though Jeremy couldn’t hear him. Rich had found it incredibly endearing. He and Michael had actually spoken a little bit during his visits. It was one of the reasons that Rich realised he couldn’t deny his bisexuality anymore. He hadn’t intended on saying anything about it to Michael, but then Michael had overheard him talking to Jeremy about it. He was still pretty embarrassed. 

“I should be fine,” he responded, he attempted his usual macho voice but he could tell he sounded a bit deflated. Michael ignored his response and grabbed the case of beer on the table anyway.

“Are you cold?” Michael asked, gesturing to Rich’s jacket. 

It was very cold outside but Brooke’s home had strong heating. Rich knew he probably looked really out of place. He just felt more comfortable having his arms covered for now. He still wasn’t used to the scars.

“I’m just going for a new look, bro.” 

“Right.  _ Bro _ .” Michael was clearly unconvinced.

Rich inwardly berated himself for being so pathetic. He was never gonna impress Michael, because he was such a coward. 

No, that wasn’t true.

“I’d just rather not have people looking at my arms and stuff,” Rich clarified honestly, unable to make eye contact with the other boy. Michael let out a sigh.

“Hey, it’s okay. I understand.” Michael’s voice was uncharacteristically soft and serious. Rich chanced a look at his face but the pity he found there made him feel even smaller. The air around them was thick with awkwardness. Michael hesitated. “I’m sorry. I should go.” 

Michael quickly reached out and took the other case of beer from Rich’s hand, and their fingers brushed briefly. Michael gave him a small smile and left the kitchen. Rich just stood there for a while feeling unsteady. It was hard to tell if Rich was just very horny and lonely, or if he had an actual crush on Michael, but either way he felt a bit hopeless. It was obvious Michael had a crush on Jeremy. And Rich still kind of had a crush on Jake too. God, Rich hated being a teenager.

He suddenly realised that he had been standing in the kitchen alone for far too long. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He wished Michael had left one of the cases of beer for him to carry through, now if someone asked he didn’t have a reason for not coming back sooner.

Just as he was about to leave the kitchen Christine came rushing in looking flustered. Rich could suddenly hear commotion coming from the living room. Something was wrong.

“Rich, do you know anybody from Park View?” she asked hurriedly. Park View was another high school in New Jersey, not too far away.  

“No, not really, why?” He felt panic slowly growing inside of him, “what’s happened?”

Christine didn’t say anything, she just handed him her phone. It was a breaking news article from a local news site. ‘Night time shooting and suicide at Park View High School: Live Updates’. There were a lot of words but his brain couldn’t process them.  _ A school shooting? At night? In New Jersey? _ He walked past her into the living room. The others were crowded around the TV with their phones out, they were watching a news report.

_ “We still do not have many details, but what we can tell you is that at some point this evening a group of students broke into the school. We are unsure what they initially intended to do or why. But we do know that around 9:15pm the first reports of gunshots began. The police arrived about 10 minutes after this and attempted to enter the building without causing alarm. Before they were able to one of the students, who is believed to have been the shooter, jumped from a five storey window and died on impact. There is only one confirmed survivor at this time.” _

Rich didn’t understand. These things never happened here. Nobody was saying anything. Something felt wrong. The news report continued, saying they were about to have an exclusive interview with the survivor. Rich felt sick, the kid needed space not a camera, Jesus. The survivor was a girl about their age, she looked very scared and confused. She had police officers behind her.

“He was trying to stop them,” the girl said. She looked unstable. She looked distant.

The words made Rich’s skin crawl. The interviewer asked her to clarify.

“They were trying to control everyone, we couldn’t turn them off,” the girl started crying. The interviewer went to end the segment, due to the girl’s emotional state, but just before she could the girl began to spasm. The camera and interviewer were pushed back by police and medical personnel, as they cut back to the studio.

Rich had no doubts. It was them. It was the Squips. That could have been him. Could have been his friends. That could have happened to them. Rich felt unsafe. He felt like he wasn’t alone inside. He could feel an energy in his muscles that wasn’t his. He clutched his head.

Suddenly there were arms around his body. His first instinct was to fight back. It was his body, no one else’s! But soon he was being hushed and he realised these were real arms. Human arms. He came back to reality.

He was sat on the floor somehow. Jeremy was next to him on one side, with a hand on his shoulder, telling him to breathe. Jenna was next to him on the other side, with her arms around him. When he looked up he could see everyone else staring at him. Brooke and Chloe looked scared and had backed away. 

“I’m sorry,” he said weakly, he felt exhausted. 

Brooke softened slightly, but Chloe was still on high alert. He realised there was a glass of water being offered to him, he took it and began to drink it with a soft thanks.

“No problem,” Christine responded, taking the glass back again when he was done.

Together Christine and Jeremy helped him to a sofa. Michael sat down next to him but said and did nothing. Rich was humiliated and confused. He felt dizzy and tired. He looked over to Jake and immediately wished he hadn’t. His old best friend was staring at him with disgust.

“What’s going on?” Jake asked softly.

“It’s nothing-” Jeremy started.

“What the hell aren’t you telling us?” Jake cut him off loudly. Jeremy visibly shrunk inwards, and Jake immediately looked regretful.

Suddenly a phone began ringing making everyone jump. Jenna looked at the number and suddenly seemed frightened. She shakily answered the call, and immediately took it outside to the front lawn. Rich was still struggling to make sense of anything. Everyone was deadly silent.

Eventually Jenna returned. She looked like she’d seen a ghost. 

“I need to head home, guys,” she said, “I think we should call it a night. This has been a shock for everyone.” 

Nobody said anything. 

“Come on, Rich,” she reached out a hand, “you can stay around mine tonight.”

Rich stood up and said a quick goodbye, apologising again. He felt very distant, like he was somewhere else. Jenna had to guide him to the car, and at some point he must have fallen asleep because that was the last thing he remembered about that night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christine's POV. It's the next day, and the plot is about to move ever forward. Also the intro to my first Original Character.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I believe there are no trigger warnings needed for this chapter. Also I've been having trouble making posts about this fanfic on tumblr, for some reason they won't appear in the tags. So if you like this fanfic, would you help me out by posting about it on tumblr? It helps me reach a larger audience. I know this isn't my best chapter, and I may actually re-visit it in the future. Next chapter will be Michael's POV. If you want to beta read for future chapters message me on tumblr @stuckonalevel.

**December 16th PS (Post-Squip)**

**Christine’s POV**

 

“We  _ should _ do something,” Jeremy continued, fidgeting slightly.

“Okay, and what can we actually do?” Michael rebutted.

The three of them had been sat at their lunch table going over this same topic for a while. Christine could tell her boyfriend was incredibly anxious right now, which she hated having to see, but she had stopped really listening. Instead she kept checking her phone, hoping to see a new message from either Jenna or Rich. 

“If they had known what we know about Mountain Dew Red they wouldn’t be…” Jeremy trailed off, clearly uncomfortable.

“Dead?” Michael finished for him, taking another sip of his slushie.

“Yes,” Jeremy gulped.

“Look, we don’t know that for certain,” Michael softened. He placed a comforting hand on Jeremy’s arm, trying to calm him down.

Christine kept looking towards the main entrance of the cafeteria. Usually the gang would all eat together, but Chloe, Brooke, Jake, Rich, and Jenna hadn’t joined them today. She checked her phone again. Nothing. Christine kept thinking about Rich, about how scared he had looked.

“What do you think?” 

Christine looked up, realising that Jeremy was now talking to her. She paused for a moment.

“I don’t see how there’s anything we can do,” she chose her words carefully, “we don’t have a lot of options or anything.”

And she was right. She hated the situation as much as everybody else. But realistically the five of them who knew about Squips didn’t exactly have any power to stop them. She didn’t like how much stress this caused Jeremy and her friends. Jeremy looked disappointed in her response, but didn’t argue. 

Christine had been living with a fair amount of anxiety about Squips since her friend from theatre camp first told her about them. Being squipped had been a weird experience for her. It was terrifying, and she was grateful for her own free will again. But there had been positive aspects to the experience. The feeling of ease and guidance. It was confusing.

“Where is everybody?” she attempted to change the subject.

“I don’t know,” Jeremy chuckled sarcastically. “Maybe they’re avoiding us again now?”

Christine shook her head. She knew it wasn’t that simple, but she wasn’t sure how she knew that. Maybe the others  _ were _ avoiding them?

Ever since the play, when they were all squipped together, Christine had felt a strong emotional connection to everyone. She always knew how the others were feeling. It wasn’t like she could read their minds but she always seemed to know when Jeremy was feeling nervous, or when Rich was feeling guilty, or when Jake was feeling frustrated. Even though they would never actually talk about it.

“What if they don’t want to hang out with us anymore?” Jeremy continued. 

“They wouldn’t just ditch us,” Michael sounded certain. “Not after everything.”

Christine checked her phone again. She had sent Jenna at least 20 messages since last night, and Jenna always replied. Christine knew that Jenna had been doing research on the Squips, and it made her nervous. She glanced at the time and realised that lunch was nearly over and the bell would go soon.

“I’m going to head to class early,” she informed them and stood up.

“Oh okay,” Jeremy seemed a little disappointed.

Christine reached down to grab her stuff and gave Jeremy a kiss. She loved Jeremy, but there were times when his nervous energy would rub off on her. She had other things in her life she needed to think about. Her main focus should be on the next play, something she actually had control over. She wanted to get it right this time. She began walking down the hall thinking about play options.

“Hey, Chris!” she stopped and turned around to see Jake rolling towards her.

“Where were you?” she couldn’t help but sound irritated. “Are we not having lunch together anymore?”

“I can’t speak for the others, but honestly I’m a little confused,” he didn’t sound very pleased either. 

Christine felt uncomfortable. Shortly after the play Michael had told her, Jeremy, Rich, and Jenna that the other three genuinely believed they had been spiked with ecstasy. They had all agreed not to correct them, it’s not like they would have believed the truth anyway. But Christine hated lying to people and it was clear to her that Jake was suspicious.

“What about?” she asked, trying to sound casual.

“Everything. Y’see, I’ve actually taken ecstasy before and what we were given or took or whatever...that wasn’t ecstasy.” It felt like he had thought out what to say in advance. “And I’m not going to pretend that I knew Rich better than anyone, because clearly I didn’t, but he is not a junkie. He doesn’t even drink.”

Christine felt panicky, what was she supposed to say? She needed to get out of this situation.

“I need to go to class-” 

“Why are you lying to us?” he continued, cutting her off. “I know you are. Ever since the play we’ve all been connected or something. And no one will say anything about it. What happened to Jeremy?” He paused, his voice quieting. “What happened to Rich?”

“I really can’t tell you, I’m sorry,” she felt like crying. She hated this.

“Chris, please try, I’ll understand.” 

The bell started ringing and a crowd began forming in the hall. The two of them stood there awkwardly. Eventually Christine couldn’t take it anymore and rushed into the crowd, walking away. She felt embarrassed and annoyed that she had been put in a position where she had to lie to somebody she cared about.

She sat down at her desk in class and quickly messaged the group chat for her, Jeremy, Michael, Rich, and Jenna letting them know that Jake was suspicious. There were two group chats; one labelled ‘Squip Squad’ for those ‘in the know’, and the other labelled ‘Theatre Group’ which all eight of them were a part of. A few moments later her phone vibrated, she checked it, hoping it would be Jenna. It was just Jeremy replying to her last message:

**Jeremy:** _ What do we do now? _

Exactly, what did they do now?

The class began but Christine’s thoughts kept drifting. The Squips were dangerous, Jenna was MIA, Rich was struggling, Jake was suspicious. And a rift was forming in their new group of friends already. Christine felt very stressed. She tried to focus on the class but she just couldn’t.

Was Rich okay? They should have helped more, they should have checked on him this morning in person. No, that would have probably been too much for him. Had he been going to his therapy sessions still? Listening to Jenna’s obsessive research couldn’t be helping his recovery. He was probably with Jenna now, maybe they hadn’t even come to school today.

Would the Squips come after them again? She had hoped that they could go back to a normal high school life after everything. She wanted Jeremy to be safe and happy. When he had told her everything in detail, as they had cuddled in her room, he had been a mess, she never wanted him to feel that way again. But the world was not safe anymore.

Her phone buzzed again, she very carefully checked it underneath her desk. She was expecting it to be another message from Jeremy or Michael. But it was actually Jenna messaging the ‘Theatre Group’ group chat:

**Jenna:** _ guys this is important I need you to meet me in the parking lot during last period. _

What? No update on Rich or anything. 

**Christine:** _ You want us to skip class? _

Christine had never skipped a class in her life.

**Jenna:** _ i mean it!! its time to finally sort this out _

**Jake:** _ ill defiantely be there _

Christine inwardly sighed at Jake’s misspelling of ‘definitely’. She was very confused now, was Jenna planning on telling the others the truth? She was being very specific with the time. Something was up.

Christine spent the rest of the afternoon lost in thought.

Eventually last period arrived and Christine made her way to the parking lot, trying not to be too obvious. She walked outside but couldn’t see anyone else. She decided to go and wait around the area that Jenna usually parked, but her car wasn’t there. She took out her phone to message the chat, when she looked up and noticed Rich walking towards her.

“Are you okay?” she asked loudly, rushing over to him. “Where have you been all day? I’m really sorry about last night.”

“It’s all good, do you know what’s going on?” he looked concerned.

“No, have you been with Jenna today?” she asked. Rich suddenly looked confused.

“This morning I told her I was gonna skip school today, and then she got another phone call and suddenly said she had to go,” he explained. “I assumed she was here, but I guess not.” 

“Rich!” Michael appeared out of nowhere, shortly followed by Jeremy. “You good, man?” Rich shrugged and said he was fine.

Jeremy came over and gave Christine a hug, both of them could tell they were worried without needing to say anything.

Brooke, Chloe and Jake arrived not long after.

“Okay, so why are we out here freezing to death?” Chloe asked.

“We’re not sure,” Christine said, causing Chloe to groan miserably.

Suddenly a dark green van drove into the parking lot. It was going way too fast and the gang had to actually run out of it’s way before it came to a halt.

“What the fuck?” Chloe yelled, ready to give the driver a piece of her mind.

The door to the van opened and Jenna stepped out and immediately began talking.

“I need you guys to stay calm and listen okay, these are people I’ve been talking to online, and they can help us,” it was hard to understand what she was saying at that speed.

Suddenly somebody else came out of the van. The person looked a bit older than them and had long bleached hair and a fair amount of piercings. They had a stern expression that made Christine uneasy. Everyone was silently staring at the person.

“Which one of you is Michael Mell?”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael's POV. The team head off with the mysterious new person to get some answers. This is the first proper appearance of one of my OCs. Feed back is welcome! Also I've had trouble posting this fic to tumblr so if you enjoy it please consider making a post about it for me! If you're interested in beta reading for future chapters please contact me on tumblr @stuckonalevel. The next chapter will be Jake's POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The shooting is mentioned again during this chapter but only briefly. There's a nice amount of one-sided Michael/Jeremy and Rich/Michael in this Chapter!

**December 16th PS (Post-Squip)**

**Michael’s POV**

 

Michael had been having a relatively normal day. Despite the events of the previous night he had woken up to his alarm as usual. He had driven to school with Jeremy as usual. Classes had been uninteresting as usual. He hadn’t thought that he would end up in the school parking lot during last period nearly being hit by a van and then stared down by an intimidating androgynous ex-scene kid.

Michael had a really bad feeling as everyone turned to face him, looking equally as concerned as he did. He slowly raised his hand.

“That would be me,” he answered. He tried for a smile, but it went unreturned.

“I need to talk to you about the night of your school play,” they sounded like an FBI agent in a CBS crime series, but certainly didn’t look like one. Michael also noted that they sounded female.

“I’m sorry, and you are?” Chloe interrupted, looking annoyed. 

Jenna quickly shushed her, but she had already caught the girl’s attention. The girl looked at Chloe thoughtfully, before turning back to Michael.

“My name is Lee,” she said.

“Which is short for…?” Chloe continued to antagonize, seeming to hint that the girl’s actual name was probably something more feminine.

“Which is short for none of your business,” Lee responded, still looking at Michael. “Did you successfully disable them?” She asked him.

“W-what?” Michael began to stutter.

“Are you here about the shooting?” Jeremy asked suddenly.

Lee’s attention was drawn towards where Jeremy and Rich were standing. She seemed to look at Jeremy intensely. Michael suddenly felt protective, Lee gave him very bad vibes and he didn’t want her anywhere near Jeremy.

Jeremy had already been through enough, he didn’t need a bunch of strange people asking him questions. But Michael already knew why these people were here, they clearly wanted information about the Squips. So of course they would want to talk to Jeremy too, the whole Squip situation at their school centered on him. Michael wished this Squip stuff would just end already. He just wanted to play video games with his friend like before. He wanted to have movie nights where they would cuddle and Michael could imagine he was actually loved for once, like before.

Lee began moving towards Jeremy, and Michael couldn’t help but move over to him to slightly block her way. But to his surprise Lee walked past Michael and Jeremy to stand uncomfortably close to Rich instead. Michael expected Rich to freak out, but he actually looked completely calm. They just looked at each other curiously for a while.

“It’s from Japan,” Lee began. “It’s a grey oblong pill.”

Michael immediately recognised the mantra that Jeremy had shown him weeks ago when first informing him of Rich’s offer, and from when they bought the Squip. Hearing it again sent shivers down Michael’s spine. The fact that everyone somehow innately knew it word for word, the robotic tone they would say it in, and the poetic rhythm, made it feel so unnatural.

“Quantum nanotechnology CPU,” Lee continued, now performing the bizarre gestures Michael had also seen before.

“The quantum computer in the pill will travel through your blood until it implants in your brain,” Rich joined in, perfectly mirroring Lee, as if instinctually. 

“And it tells you what to do,” they said in perfect unison. 

There was a moment of silence as everyone was completely enraptured in this weird interaction. Brooke, Chloe, and Jake all looked especially confused.

“You’re here about the Squips,” Rich stated quietly. Lee nodded.

“You were the first to be Squipped at this school?” Lee stepped back out of Rich’s personal space, breaking the spell over the group. It was Rich’s turn to nod. “Then I need to talk to you as well,” she checked her phone. “We don’t have much time, I need you to come with us.”

“And why should he do that? What’s going on?” Jake chimed in. 

“Your friends can explain everything to you later,” Lee muttered. “All of these people were involved?” She asked Jenna, who confirmed. “Then you should all come, but you won’t fit in my van.”

“Most of us can follow you in Chloe’s car,” Jenna supplied quickly, seeming eager to please.

“Excuse me?” Chloe asked incredulously. 

A discussion began about if and how the gang would be going with Lee. Michael was confused, things were happening very fast. He looked at Jeremy and Christine, who looked back at him with panicked expressions.

“What’s going on, man?” Michael asked under his breath.

“I don’t know,” Jeremy looked incredibly uncomfortable.

Michael wanted to reach out and comfort him but settled for a supportive smile.

“Right. Jenna, Mell, and you,” Lee pointed to Rich. “Get in the van. The rest of you need to follow us.”

Jenna quieted the others’ complaints and ushered them into Chloe’s car, promising she’d explain later. She then headed back over, grabbing Rich and then Michael, and forcing them into the back of the van. Michael felt a flash of anger and fear as he was separated from Jeremy.

Michael hastily sat on what appeared to have once been a small sofa, Rich and Jenna squeezing down next to him. It was like it was in the movies; the van’s interior had been stripped and in its place was what appeared to be electrical equipment, random paperwork, and two sets of makeshift seating running on each long side of the van facing each other. There were many random boxes and objects haphazardly placed everywhere, making it feel rather claustrophobic. Lee sat opposite the three of them and instantly started busying herself with a laptop.

Michael only just realised that there must be somebody else actually driving the van and another spike of panic and distrust rushed through him. But he had to admit he thought the van was incredibly cool. He found himself picturing Lee as a ghostbuster but for Squips instead of ghosts.

At Lee’s instruction the van began to pull out of the parking lot and down the road, through the back window Michael could see Chloe’s car following them. 

Michael tried to adjust himself slightly but still felt incredibly squashed between the back of the van and Rich’s body. Rich vocalised his discomfort as Michael fidgeted, causing Michael to check if he was okay. Rich looked intensely at Michael, trying to communicate without words, but Michael didn’t really know what to do. He felt the same urge to reach out and comfort Rich that he had felt with Jeremy earlier. This time he allowed himself to give in, gently placing his hand next to Rich’s, allowing their pinky fingers to touch. He watched as Rich began to turn a light pink.

Michael hadn’t really allowed himself to think much about the conversation he had overheard between Rich and Jeremy in the hospital. He had been legitimately surprised to discover that Rich was into dudes, he hadn’t expected that. His first thought had been happiness that he would no longer be the only openly queer kid at school. But then Rich had suggested that he found Michael attractive. That hadn’t made sense to him, for as long as Michael had been aware of Rich’s existence he had treated Michael like shit. Rich would insult and intimidate him, and regularly push and trip him in the hallways. Michael understood that the Squip had probably made most of those decisions, but he was still confused. If Rich had had feelings for him, then why hadn’t his Squip attempted to help Rich obtain him in the same way Jeremy’s had with Christine? He still didn’t get how Squips really worked.

Michael had decided that Rich wasn’t being serious when he had said that stuff to Jeremy. He must have just meant it casually, in a ‘I guess I’d hit that’ kind of a way. So it wasn’t worth thinking about it. Rich Goranski was a notoriously flirty and sexual guy. Michael recalled the ‘advice’ Rich had given Jeremy about Christine. Well, it had been six weeks and Rich had yet to attempt anything like that with him. So clearly he didn’t actually  _ like _ like him. Michael couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed about it. Michael didn’t know how he felt about Rich, but it was nice to feel wanted and attractive sometimes.

It was probably for the best, Michael was aware that he would most likely never like Rich as much as he liked Jeremy. Well, loved Jeremy. It wasn’t anything special really, he was just another teen gay secretly crushing on their straight best friend. Until recently, Michael hadn’t had many people in his life that he cared about or spent much time with. Jeremy had been a constant companion and source of comfort throughout the last twelve years. The only person outside of his family who had cared about him or been kind to him.

But Jeremy didn’t feel the same way about him, obviously. If Michael hadn’t been certain before the Squip, he was now. Because if Jeremy loved him, he wouldn’t have turned his back on him. When Michael had first returned to Jeremy’s home to play video games post-Squip Jeremy had tried to convince him to ask Rich out. Apparently Rich also liked playing video games. Michael had decided it was probably wiser to focus on other aspects of his life. But seeing Rich Goranski blush from such a minor display of affection caused something to stir in Michael.

“We’ll discuss this properly when we arrive, but I want to know now, the Squips you guys had are definitely disabled?” Lee suddenly asked.

“We think so,” Rich replied.

“Think so?” Lee visibly stiffened.

“Yes. They  _ are _ disabled,” Michael cut in.

Lee stared him down for a few moments, before conceding and continuing her business with the laptop. Michael took the time to really look at this person. Lee wore dark cargo pants and a white t-shirt, with a large green military looking jacket, and dark boots. She had long and wavy bleached blonde hair that was all swept over to one side, the other side of her head having been shaved. Again, Michael felt this get up was very movie-like. He started to wonder if maybe he was just having a very over-active dream. 

The van hit a pothole causing everyone to be thrown around a little, making Michael jump.  _ Well, it’s not a dream. _ That would have woken him up. He suddenly realised that he had fully grasped Rich’s hand whilst he had been startled. He went to let go, but Rich held on. Now Michael was the one blushing.

“We’re here,” a masculine voice from the driver’s seat called back to them.

“Alright kids, time to talk,” Lee stated, as she prepared to leave the van.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is from Jake's POV. The gang arrive at Lee's set up and the truth comes out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not feeling as good about this chapter and the next one tbh. But my betas think it's okay and I trust them. If you like this fic please feel free to give honest feedback. Also if you would like to beta read for future chapters just lemme know via tumblr @stuckonalevel. The next Chapter will be from Jeremy's POV. Again there are small mentions of the school shooting from Chapter 3.

**December 16th PS (Post-Squip)**

**Jake’s POV**

 

Jake had been certain that he was being lied to for a while now. It had started the second time he had ended up in the hospital because of his legs. The first time being when he had jumped out of the window of his parent’s bedroom during the fire, and the second time being after the school play when he had somehow managed to walk on his two broken legs, which had resulted in damaging them even further. When he had woken up in the hospital the morning after the play, he had been told that he had been drugged somehow. Shortly after Chloe informed him that the prop serum had been spiked with ecstasy. 

_ Bullshit _ . Jake had never been a heavy drug user, but he had been to a few house parties that he probably shouldn’t have, and he knew what ecstasy felt like. What he had in his system during the play wasn’t like that at all. He had heard voices and had full on hallucinations, not to mention the absence of pain. Ecstasy doesn’t work like that. Maybe LSD could, but he wasn’t even certain that was true either. And why would somebody drug the cast anyway?

He didn’t remember everything from that night, but he did remember Jeremy and Michael and the Mountain Dew Red. The same drink he had heard Rich desperately asking for on Halloween. And there was somebody else. Jake had seen a man arguing with Jeremy. A man that Jake had never seen before or since. But he remembered his face and voice, and there was no way that wasn’t real.

Something weird was going on, and had been for a while. What had Jeremy and Rich gotten themselves involved in? He knew they were lying, but it wasn’t until he was sat in the back of Chloe’s car with Jeremy and Christine that he realised just how serious the situation must be.

The van they had followed had pulled off the main roads a while ago, and now he wasn’t sure where they were. He looked out of the window, dread filling his stomach. They had pulled up to what appeared to be a small abandoned warehouse, or maybe a storage facility. There didn’t seem to be any other type of buildings around the area, and it looked pretty deserted.  _ Were these people with the government? Were they in trouble? _

“Is this it?” Chloe asked to herself as she stopped the car.

Jake could see Jenna, Rich and Michael exiting the van with Lee and the driver a few metres away. He was still apprehensive but he suddenly felt a strong conviction inside of himself.

“Time to get some answers." He said aloud, opening the passenger door to signal he was ready to be helped out of the car.

Brooke and Chloe helped him into his chair in silence, the same way they had spent the drive there. No one knew what to say. Jake could tell everyone was anxious. He could always tell when they were anxious nowadays. The five of them made their way to the others.

“We all good?” Lee asked everyone. She didn’t receive a proper response, but apparently that was good enough. “Follow me, please.” Lee tapped a code into a door lock and began walking into the building, the gang obediently following after. Jake was immediately intrigued when they entered, it was indeed an old warehouse of some kind. It was mostly empty, but there were some computers and equipment set up. There were also random boxes of crap everywhere, a large table and chairs, and a few old looking sofas. And a girl.

“Jade, could you call Mrs. Harris and let her know that we may be slightly later than expected?” Lee asked the girl, as she began dragging some extra chairs towards the large table.

Jade seemed quite startled by the gang’s presence but didn’t address them. Instead she nodded, handed Lee a water bottle, and left the area. She looked like a stereotypical good Christian girl.

“Everybody, please take a seat." Lee requested, gesturing to the table. 

Again, they did as instructed. Everyone nervously glanced from one another around the table. There was plenty that needed to be said, but nobody knew how. Lee seemed to notice this and decide to take the lead, after chugging some of the water she had been given.

“Your friend here, Jenna Rolan, contacted me through an online forum about a month ago." She paused. “How many of you know what a Squip is?”

_ A what? _ Jake had never heard of it. Yet to his surprise most of the gang raised their hands. He shared a perplexed look with Chloe and Brooke.  _ Was it a drug? _

“Okay." Lee began again. “A Squip is…” she trailed off, and then suddenly walked over to one of the boxes and pulled out a small container. She opened the container and tipped the contents onto the table, making a lot of noise which startled everybody. At least one hand full’s worth of small grey pills bounced onto the table and spread over the surface. Lee picked one up. “This is a Squip, inside this pill is an incredibly advanced piece of experimental Japanese tech. This is a quantum computer consisting of complicated nanotechnology. The AI computer in these pills are designed to help the host achieve their goals. You become a host by swallowing the pill and activating it with Mountain Dew.”

Her demonstration was met with awkward silence. Jake was confused. He understood what all of those words meant individually, but surely this person couldn’t expect him to believe this?

“You kind of had me, but then you lost me again at the Mountain Dew." Jake said.

“Is this a prank?” Chloe suddenly asked, she turned to Jeremy. “Is this you trying to get me back for everything?” Jeremy began to deny this but she spoke over him, suddenly sounding almost panicked. “Because I thought we were good, I’m not like that anymore, you know that.”

And just like that the gang erupted into everyone talking at once. Lee visibly rolled her eyes.

“Oi!” she shouted, causing everyone to stop talking again. “Yo! This is real. Whether you can believe it or not.” She now sounded urgent. “There is something wrong with the Squips. They do not work the way they were intended to work. They can become possessive and angry. They have a tendency to twist the wants of their hosts towards convincing others to also get Squips. That is what happened to you guys.”

Jake furrowed his brow in confusion has he tried to make sense of everything, then he had a sudden realisation.

“It wasn’t ecstasy, it was Squips." Jake said slowly. “You tried to put computers inside of us?” He asked Jeremy.

“W-well, it was my Squip technically." Jeremy defended himself.

Jake looked towards Rich, who was pointedly staring at the table not talking.

“For some reason, supplies of Squips in the US have been targeted towards high school students. Meaning the ‘goal’ the Squips have to achieve is usually becoming more popular, or smarter.” Lee continued.

“You wanted to be popular." Jake stated, still looking at Rich.

“Yes." Jeremy responded. “It’s not easy being treated like crap all the time.”

Jake couldn’t argue with that, he was aware he was lucky to be so naturally likable and popular. He knew that his friends and him hadn’t exactly made Jeremy and Michael’s lives easy. But the thought that Jeremy had only started to become a friend to him because of a computer telling him what to do made Jake feel sick. Did he really know Jeremy at all?

“Is that why you’re so different now, Rich?” Brooke asked, sounding genuinely concerned. “Because you had a robot thing?”

“Yep." He responded, still staring at the table.

“Having a Squip can feel great at first, but they have a tendency to lead to self destruction. They can be very cruel to their hosts.” Lee added.

Jake was still looking at Rich. For the past year or so Rich had been Jake’s closest friend. They had partied together, yes. But they’d also shared their secrets, and emotionally supported one another. They’d played video games together, and played basketball together. Rich had been teaching Jake how to play the drums. Was that all a lie dictated by a computer?

“Self destruction." Jake quietly repeated. “Is that why you burned down my house?”

Rich finally looked up. Everyone was silent. The tension was palatable. 

“I…” Rich seemed unable to speak. “I’m sorry." he squeaked out.

“It’s also what caused the Park View shooting last night." Lee interrupted. “The Squips are becoming more dangerous, and they are spreading very quickly. They also seem to have a higher pension for taking possession of their host’s body than they used to.”

“What does all of this mean?” Michael asked, sounding tired.

“It means that we have reason to believe their core programming has been compromised.” Lee sighed. “We believe they intend to ‘take over the world’.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeremy's POV. A plan begins to form. The next chapter will be Jenna's POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some more brief mentions of the shooting and mentions of Jeremy's anxiety and depression. But I think those are the only things worthy of a heads up. If you would like to beta read for future chapters feel free to message me on tumblr: @stuckonalevel.
> 
> Also I made my OCs in The Sims to use as visual references for my writing, so if you're interested in seeing what they look like you can take a peak (eye strain warning): https://stuckonalevel.tumblr.com/post/177483741905/my-ocs

**December 16th PS (Post-Squip)**

**Jeremy’s POV**

 

Jeremy had always wondered what it would be like to run away. Just completely up and leave, and start again somewhere new. Whenever his life got bad he would yearn for somewhere else, some place he’d never actually been. Obviously, he’d never been able to leave. He didn’t drive or have much money, plus there was his dad and Michael, he couldn’t just disappear like that. Still the urge would come and go whenever his depression would hit. But he had never wanted to run away and hide more than in that moment, sat in a bizarre warehouse, hearing a stranger inform him that there was probably going to be a robot apocalypse, or whatever.

The table had again fallen into an awkward silence. Jeremy felt a large amount guilt as he looked at Jake, he knew hearing all of this must have been a huge shock.

“Right now what I need from you is information." Lee pointed to Michael as she sipped her water. “You disabled your Squips, how?”

“Well,  _ I _ never actually had one." Michael muttered. “We used Mountain Dew Red.”

“Excuse me?” Now Lee was the one looking unconvinced.

“Not Code Red, but the original Mountain Dew Red from the 90s." Michael continued. “Christine drank some and it caused a chain reaction, they were all destroyed.”

“Your Squips were synced?” Lee asked looking around the table, she still looked fairly unconvinced.

“Yeah, my Squip synced everybody, to make his plan easier." Jeremy added.

Jeremy remembered what it felt like to be synced to other people. Being able to feel a tangible connection with another human being, knowing you could tell them anything and share everything. It had been an amazing feeling to truly understand his classmates. 

“That makes sense, we usually refer to a group of synced Squip hosts as a ‘unit’.” Lee responded thoughtfully. “Units are connected emotionally and mentally. I assume the kids at Park View were in a similar situation.”

Jeremy began feeling nauseous as he thought about how scared those kids must have been. The gang should have tried harder to get the truth out there, should have found those niche forums online to share what they knew. But it was too late now. Thinking about how easily that could have happened to his friends, how easily things could have gotten out of hand, made him itch in his seat. God, he wanted to leave.

“How did you discover this would work?” Lee asked Michael.

Jeremy had only just noticed that Lee was writing notes in a book as she listened. Jeremy had found himself wondering about that as well, Rich had assured him that there was no information online about the Squips, and yet both Rich and Michael had somehow found out how to destroy them.

“Well, I found out through Rich." Michael replied, gesturing to Rich.

Jeremy was surprised to hear that. When Michael had first arrived backstage with the drink he had told Jeremy he had done his research. Jeremy had assumed that this meant Michael had found out about it from someone online. To Jeremy’s knowledge Michael and Rich weren’t exactly close.

“When did this happen?” Jeremy asked, very confused.

“Well, first I had heard Rich asking about it at the Halloween party before…” Michael swallowed. “Y’know, and then when I couldn’t think of what else to do to help you, I visited Rich in the hospital, to see if he knew anything. He told me then.”

Neither of them had told Jeremy about this before. Jeremy had assumed that Rich hadn’t started freaking out until after Michael had left the party. He suddenly realised how little he really knew about Michael’s life during the time when he was Squipped. He felt like a shitty friend. He had left the party at his Squip’s instruction, not only leaving Michael alone and upset, but leaving him in actual danger. Michael could have died. Jeremy was struggling to breathe.

“And how did  _ you _ know about this?” Lee asked Rich.

“There was a guy who used to babysit me, he’s my neighbour. He’s the one who told me about the Squips. He also told me a few months later that he’d made a mistake, and that I should get a hold of some Mountain Dew Red. He had been acting weird at the time, so I hadn’t thought much about it, until that night at the party when I remembered.” Rich replied.

“Who is this guy and where is he now?” 

“His name was Gavin Keenan. He left town last year, his dad said he moved away for work, but maybe that wasn’t true.”

Jeremy watched as Lee wrote her notes, and found it alarming that Lee didn’t seem shocked or surprised by any of this information. How common place had this situation become? He tried to steady his breathing and give the news some thought. So the stuff about Mountain Dew Red had never been online to begin with. No wonder nobody else seemed to know about it. He recalled what his Squip had said to him the night of the play  _ ‘Why do you think we had it discontinued?’  _ Who exactly did ‘we’ refer to, and how long had this stuff been going on for?

“How did you get a hold of this stuff?” Lee asked.

“Oh, there’s this guy who works a Spencer’s Gifts who hooks me up with old sodas and snacks all the time, he’s awesome!” Michael responded excitedly.

Jeremy couldn’t help but smile. For the first time in a while Michael had fully sounded like his old self. God, Jeremy missed trying weird snacks with Michael.

“Would he be able to get some more? Or even better, tell us who supplied him with it?” Lee asked, sounding hopeful. Michael’s face fell.

“I don’t know, it’s not easy to get a hold of." He replied. “But we can try asking.”

“Then that’s exactly what we’ll do. I’ll visit him tomorrow, will he be working?”

“Probably, but I don’t know if he’ll respond well.” Michael said.

“Why would he not?” Lee sounded a little hurt.

“You’re kind of intimidating, and he doesn’t know you?” Michael replied, sounding uncertain.

“Very well, you can accompany me." Lee’s voice became colder again.

Jeremy’s brain suddenly halted. It was one thing to offer this person relevant information, but when the hell had they said they were going to help with whatever they were doing? The last thing they should be doing is getting involved with people like this. Jeremy just wanted to go home, or to school, just anywhere else.

“Shit." Lee was looking at her phone. “I need to go, I’m going to be talking to the Park View survivor and her family.” Lee began collecting up the pills strewn all over the table.

Jeremy watched the pills as they rolled around the table as Lee attempted to pick them up. He thought about the girl they had seen on the news report last night, about how distraught she had been. He looked at Lee and thought that the last thing that poor girl needed was to be badgered by someone so cold. He decided that Lee could use some compassion.  Jeremy couldn’t deny that a part of him also wanted to talk to this girl. He wanted to let her know that she could survive this, like he had. And he wanted to know how things had gotten so out of hand. Mostly he wanted to let her know about Mountain Dew Red. A thought suddenly occurred to him.

“She might still be Squipped." Jeremy mentioned.

“I’m aware." Lee responded, as she placed the newly refilled pill container back in a box. “But it’s worth a try. Plus if Michael’s lead is successful we may be able to change that soon.”

It was unclear to Jeremy if this ‘we’ included him and his friends or not. He was unsure if he wanted it to. He didn’t want to be put in a dangerous position, and he didn’t want his friends to be put there either. He had other things in his life to worry about it, he couldn’t just join Lee’s crusade or whatever. 

And yet there was another part of him that wanted answers. That wanted to know where the Squips came from and how they had ended up in high schools. He wanted to find out who had done this, and see them punished. And there was a part of him that had always been there. Yearning to run away and have an adventure. The part that was drawn to video games and movies as a form of escapism. The part that was secretly bitter at his mundane life. And even though he was afraid of the prospect of that reality, he couldn’t stop the words from rolling out of his mouth. 

“I want to join you." He said suddenly.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jenna's POV. It's time to interview the Park View survivor. Next chapter will be Michael's POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mentions of a school shooting. So the plot is starting to pick up now. I'm also pretty happy with how this chapter turned out, I really wanted to explore Jenna as a character, I want her to be a key part of this story. Lemme know what you think and if you ever wanna beta read for future chapters or give direct feed back feel free to message me on tumblr: @stuckonalevel. If you like this fic please consider spreading the word about it, thank you.

**December 16th PS (Post-Squip)**

**Jenna’s POV**

 

To say that Jenna’s life hadn’t become better since the school play would have been untrue, but she felt maybe a more accurate description would have been ‘complicated’ or ‘interesting’. She hadn’t been that surprised to hear that there was a secret subculture of robot pills out there in the world, because when you’re constantly receiving gossip from the lives of teenagers you hear some pretty fucked up stuff. So, yeah, computer pills weren’t that hard for her to believe.

What she had found hard to believe was that quiet nobody Jeremy Heere had the balls to take one, and then give her one. Now that was unexpected. Of course, once she had actually sat down and spoken to Jeremy and Michael about everything that had happened it had made a lot more sense. Jenna could finally see Jeremy as who he really was. And Jeremy Heere was a depressed, sarcastic, and surprisingly empathetic dweeb. A dweeb she now felt she could relate to. Jenna knew how desperate a person could become when they felt lonely and unappreciated.

Which is why when Jeremy expressed his want to ‘join’ Lee she was the only person who hadn’t suddenly turned to look at him with near horror. Jenna had actually been feeling the same way for a while. Lee looked absolutely perplexed.

“You want to join me for the interview?” Lee asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jeremy suddenly turned pink, looking very embarrassed. He began to stutter.

“W-well I actually meant in general-” He began.

“No.” Lee simply replied, suddenly completely stone faced.

Jenna was not surprised by this response. Jenna had made the same request to Lee the previous night on the phone, and received the same answer. She had been in contact with Lee and her team for a few weeks and she had discovered a passion she couldn’t deny. Jenna had never known what she wanted to do with her life as an adult, but now she was sure she wanted to dedicate her life to stopping the Squips, like Lee had.

Jeremy looked humiliated and confused as everyone continued to stare at him like he had just kicked a dog.

“You’re a child.” Lee simply responded, as if this should have been obvious.

Again, Jenna had received a similar response. Jeremy’s look of embarrassment and bitterness also matched Jenna’s feelings on the matter, but she kept quiet.

“Plus we are only here temporarily.” Lee continued, picking up a bag from atop some boxes. She paused giving Jeremy a look and then sighed. “However, since we are here now and will need the continued assistance of your friend, you may join me to this meeting, if you wish?”

“Hold on a second.” Chloe interrupted. “Okay first of all, we need to get home. And second of all are you insane, Heere? These people can put us in danger, if these things are as scary as you all say they are.”

She had a point, Jeremy wasn’t exactly the most physically strong or mentally stable person at the moment. It probably would be a bad idea for him to get involved in this stuff. But Jenna knew first hand that sometimes the want for the truth outweighed logic.

“I want answers.” Jeremy responded, sounding more sure. “I’m going with you.” He said to Lee, who nodded in response.

“Jeremy, are you sure?” Christine asked softly.

“It’s just a house visit.” Lee assured her. “And it’s a one time thing.” She added pointedly to Jeremy.

Jenna couldn’t deny the jealousy she suddenly felt. She was the one who had been already working alongside Lee’s team for weeks. She was the one who had been supplying them with information. And she was the one most determined to fight this fight. She should be the one working with them during their stay.

“And how will the rest of us get home?” Jake asked, still looking uncomfortable.

“Brad, will you help transport these people back to their school?” Lee asked loudly.

Suddenly everyone looked behind them and saw a tall man on the other side of the room. How long had he been standing there? Jenna recognised him as the driver of the van. He nodded in confirmation.

“And I take it your car is still in working order?” Lee asked Chloe, who nodded coldly. “Very good, then this is goodbye for now.”

“How are you getting to the girl’s house?” Michael asked.

“Jade will drive us in her car.” Lee responded, adding her water bottle to the bag she had picked up. “Jenna, will you be joining us too?”

Jenna suddenly stood up at the mention of her name, she hadn’t been expecting that. Lee was looking at her patiently. Jenna had thought for sure that Lee’s response yesterday was a sign of dislike or distrust, but she must have been wrong.

“Yes, I’d like that.” Jenna responded, attempting to sound casual.

Jenna and Jeremy gave the rest of the gang awkward goodbyes as Lee left to get changed, she returned wearing skinny jeans and a white button up shirt, no piercings in sight. Christine and Michael had fussed over Jeremy, trying to convince him that this was a bad idea, as they all headed back outside. Nobody had tried anything similar with Jenna.

“If you don’t call me by 9pm, I’m contacting the cops.” Michael had whispered to Jeremy as the others had gotten back into Chloe’s car and the van. It was hard to tell if he was being completely serious or not. 

Jenna had only realised how late in the day it actually was once they were outside. The sun had already begun to set, Jenna checked her phone and was surprised to find that it was already 6pm. She watched her friends drive away, hoping they would be okay. She was starting to feel quite nervous, after all these people might not be what they seem, they were basically strangers.

Eventually the girl from earlier - Jade - pulled up in a small blue Renault Clio in front of Jenna, Jeremy, and Lee. Jade dutifully got out of the car and took Lee’s bag from her to put in the boot. Jenna and Jeremy climbed into the back seats, with Lee in the passenger’s seat and they began to drive away.

Most of the drive went by in relative silence. Jenna was beginning to feel more at ease, but she was becoming aware of how odd it would be for all four of them to show up at this poor girl’s house. She looked over at Jeremy and was surprised to find that he looked relatively calm. He was just absentmindedly doing stuff on his phone. Jenna reached over and gave his hand a comforting squeeze anyway, which received a kind smile from the boy.

Eventually they had driven into a small suburb and the car stopped outside a fairly nice looking house. Nobody made any movements to get out of the car. From the backseat Jenna watched as Jade handed a manila folder to Lee who began to look through it’s contents. It was now closer to 7pm and the sky was slowly darkening.

“Okay.” Lee bagan, turning to face Jenna and Jeremy. “Here’s the situation. The survivor’s name is Sophie Harris, her parents her Bob and Sarah Harris. Now, we’ve told Mr. and Mrs. Harris that we are here to investigate possible drug activity at the school that could have played a part in the shooting. They believe we work for a Christian non-profit advocating against drug use to teens and that we are using this as a possible case study. This family are very religious so they’ve agreed.”

Jenna’s head was buzzing and churning trying to keep up with all of this new information. She was surprised at how thorough Lee was being.

“So obviously we are going to have to be careful about the type of vocabulary we use whilst we’re in there.” Lee continued. “If we are lucky we’ll get a chance to talk to Sophie alone. But I don’t have high hopes. She’s probably traumatised.”

“Okay.” Jeremy muttered. He looked as though he were in intense thought.

“If anybody makes a comment about how young you two look, we’ll say you are college interns. The family have invited us for dinner, so we’ll be doing that first before getting into the nitty gritty. For the most part, I think it’s best if neither of you say too much. Any questions?” Lee finished.

Jenna and Jeremy shared a look. It was very overwhelming. But at the same time Jenna felt incredibly excited, it reminded her of watching spy and heist movies when she was younger. They were going undercover to discover the truth.

“What are we actually trying to achieve?” Jeremy suddenly asked.

“Information on the supplier and who else they’ve been supplying too.” Jade finally spoke. Jeremy and Jenna both looked at her with surprise. Jenna noticed she had a Southern drawl to her voice. “I’m sure you’ll do just fine.” Jade added, smiling at them through the rear view mirror. She was very pretty, but didn’t look much older than Jenna herself.

“Four people is a lot for a sensitive situation like this.” Jenna said.

Lee suddenly looked surprised, as if she hadn’t thought about that. She seemed to think for a little while before turning back around to face forward in her seat. She looked over at Jade who gave her a smile.

“It’s okay, I don’t mind waiting.” Jade replied with ease. Lee seemed conflicted.

“Well, don’t feel the need to wait out here. I can text you when we’re done. You can go do something else in the meantime.” Lee said softly. Jade gave her a brilliant smile, and nodded happily. Lee merely looked away.

Jenna had only ever spoken to Jade online before, and even then she would never really say much. Jenna found herself wondering what role Jade actually played in this team. She wondered how the team functioned in general. Jenna noticed Jeremy looking at Jade curiously, but whatever he was thinking about was never vocalised.

Eventually they all left the car. Jade retrieved Lee’s bag and returned it to her, as Lee told her to stay safe. Jade then got back into her car and began to drive away. Lee handed the bag to Jenna and asked her to keep a hold of it for now. They walked up to the front door, and Lee gave them one final serious look before she rang the doorbell. And then suddenly her whole demeanour changed as the door opened.

“Hello Mrs. Harris, my name is Ashley, we spoke this morning over the phone?” Lee said with huge smile and overly-friendly tone.

Mrs. Harris had welcomed them in and guided them to a large dinner table where a meal of roast beef and vegetables had been prepared. Sophie was not at the table, apparently she would not leave her room. The meal consisted of mostly small talk, and Jenna could tell that Mr. and Mrs. Harris were nervous and concerned. They were very obviously sad, it was that simple. It made Jenna feel uncomfortable, they shouldn’t be here. This wasn’t right. She could tell Jeremy felt the same way.

Eventually the meal came to an end and Lee calmly began asking questions about Sophie’s behaviour.

“She had been acting up a little bit.” Mrs. Harris informed them softly. “But she had been making so many new friends, we never thought that she had gotten herself involved in things like this. They were all good kids.” She began to cry softly.

Jenna saw Jeremy shift uncomfortably in his seat. Sophie’s changes sounded very similar to his own, and she could tell he was beginning to feel guilty. Jeremy had told her not too long ago about his relationship with his dad and how it had begun to improve. But she knew that he still felt incredibly conflicted about his father. No one wanted to cause their parents pain.

Eventually Lee used her skills of manipulation and encouragement to convince the parents to let them attempt to speak to Sophie upstairs. And so they were now standing outside a bedroom door waiting. A few moments after they knocked a voice from inside gave a shaky response. Lee opened the door, and gently closed it behind them. Sophie - the same girl from the news report yesterday - still looked like a mess. She stared at them in alarm. Lee’s demeanour shifted once again, back to business.

“Is it deactivated?” Lee asked bluntly.

Sophie’s eyes widened and she began to blush. She went to respond but there was a visible struggle. Jeremy flinched beside Jenna.

“That’s a no.” Lee answered herself. “I have some questions for you. Your Squip may answer too, if they wish.” She added nonchalantly as she sat on a chair in the room.

There was an even stronger struggle beginning to take place in Sophie. Jenna couldn’t help but feel nervous, the girl looked deranged, but Lee was perfectly calm.

“No, that won’t work, sorry.” Lee seemed to say in answer to no one. “Your unit has been...shut down. So I would allow Sophie to talk, if I were you.”

The struggle suddenly ceased and Sophie visibly calmed. She looked at Lee with surprise. She lifted her hand in front of her face and wiggled her fingers.

“I haven’t been able to do that for a while.” Sophie spoke in a small voice.

Lee gestured to Jenna. She went to stand behind Lee’s chair and Lee motioned for the bag. Jenna gave it to her, feeling as though she were watching a dream from afar. It was incredibly surreal. Lee took the water bottle from her bag and handed it to Sophie. As Sophie reached out to take it she suddenly spasmed violently. Lee let out a sigh as she held Sophie’s head back and helped her take a sip. Sophie choked a little in the struggle but was able to swallow the water.

Jenna felt wrong. She didn’t like the way Lee was rough handing somebody so vulnerable. But she trusted that Lee knew what they were doing. If the Squip had control of this person’s body then they were dangerous. Jeremy let out a yelp as he watched Sophie get shocked, he looked away and Jenna nearly wanted to cry. She could feel the fear and anger inside Jeremy.

Sophie had begun to calm down once again on the bed as she continued to struggle with the water. Eventually Lee took it back and smiled.

“Feeling better?” She asked Sophie, softer than before.

“Yes.” Sophie replied breathlessly, giving Lee an odd look.

“It’s getting late so I’ll make this quick. Where did you get the Squips?” Lee asked sitting back in her seat.

“Who are you?” Sophie asked.

“Somebody who is trying to help. I need to shut down the supply.” Lee answered honestly. Sophie looked away, deep in thought.

“There’s a counsellor at our Church, it was him. His name’s Daniel.” She replied, holding back tears.

Jenna was unsure what they should do now. Do they comfort her? Do they leave? They had the information they came for, but it felt wrong to leave her.

“W-we can help you.” Jeremy blurted out. Everyone looked at him apprehensively. He came over to Sophie and looked at her earnestly. “We found a way to turn them off.”

Sophie looked from Jeremy to Lee and began to cry. It occurred to Jenna that maybe that wasn’t going to be the happiest news right now. Not just after her friends had died trying to shut theirs off. Jenna had a flashback to Rich laying on the grass outside Jake’s house covered in burns and suddenly felt sick. Jeremy backed off, realising his mistake.

Lee spent a few minutes calming Sophie down patiently. She promised she would come back if they could obtain what they needed to help her. In the meantime Lee left her the bottle of water. Sophie had begun to fall asleep as the three of them left the room and made their way downstairs. They said farewell to Mr. and Mrs. Harris, Lee promised she’d keep in touch, and they headed back to the road were Jade was already waiting. And then they were driven back to Jenna’s home with little said between them. Jeremy texted his dad telling him he would be staying at Jenna’s to avoid Jade having to drive around too much. Lee gave them a cold goodbye, stating the she would see them again soon. And then they were left standing outside Jenna’s house still in a kind of shock.

Jenna spent the night awake haunted by images of fire, Rich’s body, and screaming. In the midst of these were new images of Sophie’s struggling body and crying face, and Lee’s cold presence. Maybe she wasn’t cut out for this after all. They were in danger. Everybody was. This wasn’t a game or a movie or a dream. This was real.


End file.
